Bruadar Sailors
| Vessel Name: | Bruadar |
| Vessel Make/Model: | Formosa 51, William Garden Cutter Rigged Ketch |
| Hailing Port: | Newport, RI |
| Crew: | Dan & Ebeth, five swabs, rear admiral Pix & cabin boy Angus. |
| About: | Life aboard our 1979 Formosa 51' ketch. Currently going through a refit on the Chesapeake Bay. Check out - https://www.instagram.com/svbruadar/ |
| Extra: | Gaelic-English Dictionary [bruadar] nm. g.v. -air; pl.+an, a dream |
30 April 2015 | Georgetown Yacht Basin
Spring Commissioning Work Begins!
Bruadar is on the hard and the work to get her back in the water has begun. The admiral and I have started prepping the bottom for a new coat of paint, fun fun fun. In addition to freshening up the anti-fouling paint and zincs we plan to install a day tank, wind generator and tile the shower. That's all!
07 May 2007 | Charleston, SC
Duct Tape, water leaks, water pumps and no Ino?
Using slack tide to our advantage we motored in and anchored at Charleston’s City Marina the following morning. The winds had died down and after a good night’s sleep and in ideal conditions it was ‘easy cheesy’. We called Pam and Ino to let them know we were good to go! The question was, “now [...]
30 April 2007 | Charleston, SC
We get by with a little help from my friends...
With the bilge pump working overtime and a strong northerly approaching I decide to alter course. Instead of Beaufort, NC, we now turn northwest and head for Charleston, SC. I do not tell the Admiral about our leak; she has enough to deal with! It is time to investigate just what is going on in the engine [...]
Shakedown/Delivery/Babymoon Cruise?
I have no idea where to begin..... After we purchased Bruadar we needed to bring her home. This would be a great adventure! Ebeth (the Admiral/Cook) and I (the Skipper/Engineer) decided to make this our babymoon as well. Ebeth was pregnant with our third swab and this would be a great vacation before our new child's arrival. On several occasions I suggested looking for volunteers to help crew. This was not the Admiral's idea of a romantic trip so I agreed, it was to be a exclusive and romantic voyage. It is funny how plans work out!
This ended up being nothing but a Shakedown Cruise. After leaving Ft. Lauderdale we planned to plot a course for Beaufort, NC. To keep our speed up the Skipper would head for the Gulf Stream. Our weather forecast called for light northerly winds.
Reality sets in and our first snag came the morning we planned to leave. The 'new' depth sounder had died the night before and we needed to return our rental car. Because of my (the Engineer's) attempts to make some last minute repairs we ended up returning the rental car the following morning. Since we needed to leave on the incoming tide this set us back 12 hours. We waited for the tide and left around 7 pm with daunting task of hitting each of the four bridge openings and making it to the Seabreeze Blvd. bridge for its 'on the hour' opening. I have to admit to being nervous but in the end it all worked out just fine. We were now in the Atlantic Ocean headed north.
As we settled into our 'four hour on four our off' watch routine the Admiral told me that she was feeling a little off. We chalked this up to nerves and motion of the ocean and decided to wait and see how she felt in the morning. The Engineer got the first watch and he/I had to calibrate the new autopilot. No rest for the weary! Oh did I forget to mention the depth sounder was still not functioning?
Enjoy our first sunrise.....more to follow...
